Double Wedding: Warmth, wisdom and love on every page - if you treasured Maeve Binchy, read Patricia Scanlan

by Patricia Scanlan

*** THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR *** Jessica and Carol, two childhood friends, are both engaged to be married. Secretly afraid her fiance is going to chicken out, Carol is insisting on a double wedding. Jessica is appalled at the she doesn't want to share the happiest day of her life with whining Carol and her womanising boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, she has a very soft heart and is easily persuaded to agree. Then her mother goes ballistic. This is not what she wants for her precious daughter! Carol's parents are separated and at loggerheads. Neither wants the other to be there. Who will win that war? Nadine, Carol's younger sister, is wild and disruptive and drinks like a fish - hardly the ideal wedding guest. Will Carol's family come to blows? Will her fiance do a runner? Will they make it to the altar? And can Jessica and Carol's friendship survive a Double Wedding?A warm, eventful, bittersweet novel is full of unexpected surprises, and sprinkled with charm! Warmth, wisdom and love on every page - if you treasured Maeve Binchy, read Patricia Scanlan. Number 1 bestselling author Patricia Scanlan is set to capture the hearts and enchant the minds of a whole new generation of readers who will fall in love with her sublime storytelling. A trailblazing women’s fiction author, all of her novels have been #1 international bestsellers, most recently With All My Love, A Time for Friends, Orange Blossom Days and A Family Reunion. She writes multi-generational family dramas with compassion and authenticity, and a hint of comforting escapism. ‘If you love Maeve Binchy, you MUST try Patricia Scanlan' Woman & Home 'Utterly magical and wonderful... warmth and compassion shine through' MARIAN KEYES 'Like being enfolded in a hug from the great writer warm, comforting and full of love' CATHY KELLY 'There can be little doubt that Patricia Scanlan is the prolific queen of contemporary Irish popular fiction' Sunday Times 'There is a heartbreaking authenticity in her observations' Irish Times 'The ultimate comfort read' Glamour ‘If you love Maeve Binchy, you will love Patricia Scanlan’ Mirror

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Irish Literature

644 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 5, 2004

About the author

Patricia Scanlan was born in Dublin, where she still lives. Her #1 bestsellers include Apartment 3B; Finishing Touches; Foreign Affairs; Promises, Promises; Mirror, Mirror; City Girl; City Woman; City Lives; and Francesca’s Party. She has sold millions of books worldwide and is translated into many languages. Patricia is the series editor and a contributing author to the award winning Open Door literacy series, which she developed for adult literacy.

Reviews

[Sandysbookaday (on indefinite hiatus)]

EXCERPT: 'Let's have a double wedding!' Carol Logan burst out impulsively, brown eyes sparkling with giddy anticipation.
Oh no! Jessica Kennedy's stomach lurched as she gazed at her friend with undisguised dismay. A double wedding with Carol and Gary was the LAST thing she wanted.

ABOUT 'DOUBLE WEDDING': Jessica and Carol, two childhood friends, are both engaged to be married. Secretly afraid her fiancé is going to chicken out, Carol is insisting on a double wedding.

Jessica is appalled at the idea: she doesn't want to share the happiest day of her life with whining Carol and her womanising boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, she has a very soft heart and is easily persuaded to agree.

Carol's parents are separated and at loggerheads. Neither wants the other to be there. Who will win that war? Nadine, Carol's younger sister, is wild and disruptive and drinks like a fish - hardly the ideal wedding guest.

Will Carol's family come to blows? Will her fiancé do a runner? Will they make it to the altar? And can Jessica and Carol's friendship survive a Double Wedding?

MY THOUGHTS: Even though Double Wedding was published in 2004, it felt like it could have been set several decades earlier. The 'get your man and get him to the altar' theme was very prevalent.

Double Wedding contrasts one couple's loving and balanced relationship with that of the dysfunctional relationship of their best friends. It also deals with familial abandonment, alcoholism and grief.

The ending had a delicious and much appreciated twist!

I have read other Patricia Scanlan books and enjoyed them more.

⭐⭐.5

#DoubleWedding

MEET THE AUTHOR: PATRICIA SCANLON was born in Dublin, where she still lives. While working as a librarian she started to write, and now has a full-time career as a bestselling author.

https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

[Dianne]

This is my first Patricia Scanlan novel. I found it very easy to read. It would make a great holiday book. I will definitely read another Patricia scanlan book.

[rhia faith]

Read it because I found it in a charity shop and was curious about how it would play out. I feel this characters lives were so different is was unfair. One had this perfect relationship and almost perfect life and the other had a family that was basically falling apart and a man she had to practically trap into marriage.

I didn’t mind Jessica, despite her being a door mat, she was a sympathetic, sweet person. Carol however. She was one of the most annoying characters I found in a book. I would not be able to put up with someone like that, no matter how nice I was. That for me, made it an unrealistic story, which stopped me from being able to connect with the characters.

[Carinya Kappler]

This book by Patricia Scanlan is a delightful light hearted glimpse into youthful relationships and their pitfalls. Friends come in every shape and size, all with specific needs and expectations. In this story we follow the lives of two friends from the small town in Ireland.
Jessica and Carol have been friends since school and now are faced with many compromises that demands that threaten their feelings for each other.
This is an entertaining book that keeps the reader’s attention until the last page.
Recommended for a holiday read!
Carinya

[Kristin]

Finally finished this book that more than 600 pages. It was painful to read about the dysfunctional relationship of Carol and Gary whereas Jessica and Mike had a loving healthy relationship. Carol's family was overflowing with dysfunction with an alcoholic mother still lividly angry at the husband who left because of her out-of-control alcoholism. Unfortunately, Carol and her sister were physically abandoned by their father although he financially supported them faithfully.

[Lou]

Didn't want to finish it.

I knew from the first chapter that this was going to be a great read and I wasn't wrong. Another fab story from Patricia Scanlon that keeps you interested to the very end.

[Amy Corrigan]

I have a rad husband - but Mike just sounds like a mouse of a man...... and Jessie is just annoying. Mind you, most of the characters in this book were outdated and annoying. And unrealistic.... nonetheless, not a bad read.

[Lorraineabd247.com]

Very easy reading

[Lesley Griffiths]

Good page turner

Very well written story about a group of family and friends showing all the good and bad times that lead them to a more settled way of life

[Pam Webb]

Good story, interesting ending

Quite enjoyable, but really my cup of tea, but would recommend it if you enjoy chick flicks which can be boring at times.

[Craig and Phil]

https://www.instagram.com/happyvalley...

[Maria]

An enjoyable easy read that swept 🧹 me along quite easily.

[RJC]

Irish chick lit. Too much to-ing and fro-ing. Very light read.

[Kim Solleder]

another great read from Patricia Scanlan, I am enjoying rereading her novels, great stories

[Bracha Simcha]

Cute, but not my cup of tea.

[Carol Krone]

Started it but couldn't get into it

[Susan Watts]

An enjoyable book but I hated the ending.

[Linda Mcgurrin]

Light hearted easy read, jealousy, love, drink impacting

[Amanda Wright]

Great read

The characters are great in this book. Enjoyed it all the way until the end. Highly recommend reading this one.

[Lynne Foster-Jones]

There is no way that anyone would EVER put up with Carol, this story just wasn't believable enough

[Minty McBunny]

Not the best of her books but entertaining enough as a quick fluffy dose of Irish chick lit

[Margaret]

From international bestselling author Patricia Scanlan comes a charming tale of best friends, family, and weddings.
Jessica and Carol, two childhood friends, are both engaged to be married. Secretly afraid her fiancé is going to chicken out, Carol is insisting on a double wedding.

Jessica is appalled at the idea: she doesn't want to share the happiest day of her life. But how can she break the news to Carol?

On top of that, Carol's parents are separated and constantly fighting. Neither wants the other to be there. And Nadine, Carol's younger sister, is wild and disruptive and drinks like a fish—hardly the ideal wedding guest.

Can Jessica and Carol's friendship survive a Double Wedding?

Double Wedding: A Novel by Patricia Scanlan

From international bestselling author Patricia Scanlan comes a charming tale of best friends, family, and weddings.

Jessica and Carol, two childhood friends, are both engaged to be married. Secretly afraid her fiancé is going to chicken out, Carol is insisting on a double wedding.

Jessica is appalled at the idea: she doesn’t want to share the happiest day of her life. But how can she break the news to Carol?

On top of that, Carol’s parents are separated and constantly fighting. Neither wants the other to be there. And Nadine, Carol’s younger sister, is wild and disruptive and drinks like a fish—hardly the ideal wedding guest.

Can Jessica and Carol’s friendship survive a Double Wedding?

[Gaëlle]

Double Wedding was a bit of a disappointment to me. The first thing I discovered is that I like chick-lit best when the story is about a girl looking for love, not when it's about couples that are already formed. The storyline wasn't bad however, which is why I kept reading, even though there were moments I had no idea where all of this was going. Pages and pages of rambling bickering start to get old after a few chapters, making the 600 pages entirely too long. I should also add that about halfway into the novel, chapters entirely devoted to the main characters' parents started to appear. I mostly skipped those, simply skimming through just to have an idea of what was going on.

What killed it for me was the terrible range of characters involved. I didn't mind Jessica, who, in spite of being kind of a doormat, was still a nice, sympathetic person. Carol, on the other hand, was one of the most irritating characters I've ever found in a novel. I know I couldn't deal with such a whiny, spiteful, selfish friend. Most of the characters were quite one-dimensional anyway, and on top of already stereotypical situations, everything was a tiny bit too convenient for it to be believable. (No, I don't necessarily look for realism in romance novels, but when they make me roll my eyes every other page, there is something wrong!)

One good point was the amusing Irish slang (although I have to note the overuse of "humour", "fib" and "wagon", while we broach the topic of vocabulary), the other was the really good descriptions of the places and people.

[Nicki]

Enjoyable - even from someone who is not into weddings and wedding themed stories! Patricia Scanlans books are always light and readable and the Irish slang always gives me a bit of a laugh. All the "wagons" and "ones" and being in a type of "humor" - very colorful!
I actually couldn't stand Carol through most of this, I hate to admit I was hoping things would go bad for her at the end because she was such an awful person. Jessie is written as virtually a saint, maybe too good to be true, as was Mike. Gary was another one I couldn't stand - as far as I could tell, he was the perfect match for Carol - honestly as bad as each other.
It's a thin idea for a book and I can see why others found it repetitive, but I always seem to enjoy this author. I tend not to over think her books or go for deeper meanings and just enjoy them for what they are.

[Karschtl]

Pushy and a bit self-centered Carol gets her best (and only) friend Jessica talked into doing a double wedding, although both parties have quite a different idea of what an ideal wedding should be like. But Carol is too afraid her boyfriend Gary might chicken out on her if she can get him up the aisle as fast as possible.

Nice Irish chick-lit, where a couple of incidents take place before the final big day arrives - which of course also presents some surprises. Of course Jessy is the good girl in this novel and Carol the annoying little bitch, but she is not that dislikeable that you would have to hate her.

[Lady Drinkwell]

I have a bit of a soft spot for irish chick lit. The characters are usually very down to earth with a freshness about them. This was rather similiar to Marilyn Keyes with its theme of alcoholism but not quite as funny or insightfull. Having said that this was a very pleasent read, I zipped through it, it was written in a very straightforward style and I personally liked the few little religious touches.

[Helen Kl]

Listened to this as an audio book. It was well read and some parts of the book were very good.... But it just seed to go on and on. I persevered but not entirely sure it was worth the effort.

[Sharon Reeves]

An easy read, an enjoyable book, but not the best of Patricia Scanlan.

[Wyn Mallya]

interesting

[June Jones]

Never agree to a double wedding, disaster